SLOPER ON MAH-JONGG

By Tom Sloper
March 29, 2020Column #734

American Mah Jongg (2020 NMJL card).
It's that time of year: time to learn a new card! Every year the card has some repeat hands, some variations on previous hands, and some new hands. This column has a self-imposed word/image limit, so my analysis of the new 2020 card will take more than one column. Enough chitchat! Just the highlights in this week's column.

First: some notable departures from tradition:

1. Flower quints in 2020 (#3), Any Like (#3), and Quints (#1). No "Year" section going back as far as the 2000 card contained a quint (I did not check cards before 2000). The quint hand in Any Like was seen previously, on the 2004 card. In the past 20 cards, though, there were no Flower quints in Quints.

2. Movement of the traditional #2 hands (biannual alternators) to different placements in their respective sections. Evens #2, Consec #2 (the most powerful hand on the card), Odds #2, and 369 #2 have all moved. On the 2020 card their positions are Evens #4, Consec #3, Odds #3, and 369 #1. I'll discuss the strategic implications of this move in a later column.

3. "Multiplication" hands in Evens and Odds. Evens #5 (4x6=24 and 6x8=48) was two separate hands on the 2010 card. Odds #2 (3x5=15 and 5x7=35) was two separate hands on the 2004 card.

4. There's no "Addition" or "Eleven" or "Seven" section this year. The lower left corner of the card is a "change-up" section that varies unpredictably each year, so while noteworthy, this is not unusual.

5. Quints #2 is a novel two-pair, two-quint 3-number consec hand, with no precedent in the past 20 cards.

6. Novel use of singles in Evens (#1) and Consec (#6). We simply haven't seen singletons like those, at least not in the past 20 years.

Second: players commonly focus on the front of a new card, ignoring the back. But there have been significant changes on the back. Rule exceptions are now codified on the card. Details are now codified. Rules are rewritten.

a. Discarded joker may be named "joker," same as previous, or "same." (First time codified on card.)

b. Jokers may be redeemed only during player's turn; the rule on the card now defines when a turn begins!

c. Conflicting claims for exposure go to next-in-line except when another has begun to expose.

d. Conflicting claims for mahj go to next-in-line except when another has begun to expose (yes, these two rules have to be stated as two rules, not one).

e. When one claims for exposure and other claims for mahj, tile goes to the mahj claimant even if exposure claimant has begun to expose.

g. As for jokers in a dead player's hand, the phrase "went dead" has been changed to "was declared dead." This important wording change reduces misinterpretations of the rule.

Next week: more analysis of the 2020 card!

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Question or comment about this column? I often, um... intentionally... "miss" something; maybe you'll be the first one to spot it! Email and the discussion will be posted on the Mah-Jongg Q&A Bulletin Board. Hit me with your best shot!

Rules inconsistency, part 3

On Tuesday, March 31, 2020, 11:20:06 AM PDT, Susan D wrote:
Re: Rule Inconsistency
Tom, Thank you for your revised answer. After learning to play in 2016 I have tried to learn all I can about the rules as well as play of Mah Jongg. I have often wondered if many players didn't call other player's hands "dead" in hopes of redeeming Jokers and actually wrote to you about that subject in July of 2019. You and I both agreed that it is in fact not fair play to refrain from calling a player's hand dead in order to redeem a Joker, but there is no ruling on this from the NMJL. After all, how could such a rule be enforced? Susan

In the morning light of a Tuesday morning, I am re-considering Susan D's question. Working-from-home job stresses yesterday; I didn't have the full mental bandwidth to focus on the question.
As Susan said, rule 21 on page 24 of MJME2020 doesn't cleanly align with the new wording on the back of the 2020 card. My response yesterday was wrong.

Card:
JOKERS may be exchanged from any and all exposures that were made before the hand was declared "dead".

Rule 21:
No Jokers exposed prior to a Concealed hand being declared "dead" are redeemable, since they were part of an incorrect exposure.

The rule on the card does not acknowledge the exception for Concealed hands stated in rule 21 of MJME2020. Susan was right and I was wrong.

Too-detailed meanderings follow. Don't read! ...

Personally, I prefer the old rule that ambiguous exposures (exposures that do not clearly indicate a C hand) may remain atop the rack when the hand is declared dead. At least, that was the interpretation I took from printed rules at the time. It still seems most reasonable to me. The card rule is consistent with that interpretation. Rule 21 indicates that all prior exposures (including ambiguous exposures) must be returned to the sloping front of the rack at the moment of discovery that the hand is marked C on the card.

If someone redeems a joker from another's rack and it is later discovered that that other player's hand was supposed to be Concealed, then the player who got the joker benefited from the other player's mistake. The redemption cannot be undone if the discovery of the error is not immediate. It's possible to cheat the rule. A sharp-eyed player might recognize that a player's joker exposure(s) indicate a C hand, and could conceivably redeem the joker before anyone else at the table realizes the error. Some players might be tempted to remain silent about another player's error, just so they could keep open the possibility of obtaining that erroneously-exposed joker. In a sense, Rule 21 is enforceable only if all players are honest.

I know that the majority of players are honest, and many probably take offense at the notion that someone would cheat at mah-jongg. Many refuse to roll dice, even if they know it's possible to plant jokers in the wall. Many players even refuse to call another player dead. Such players may adopt this attitude as a way of keeping exposed jokers atop the racks as long as possible. Sorry, I don't have further points to make, and I'll stop meandering now.

囧 *Hypocrisy alert: I touch my face all the time at home. When I go to the grocery store I wait until I'm home and have cleaned up after the outing. But I'm a face-toucher and I am hypocritical to advise others not to be like me! </confession> - Tom

Rules inconsistency (2020 card, part 6)

On Monday, March 30, 2020, 07:52:29 AM PDT, Susan D wrote:
2020 Card
Tom, During my yearly task of analyzing the new card I realized that there has been quite a few additions or clarifications made to the back of the card. I would like to talk about one that was not made but possibly should have been. It says JOKERS may be exchanged from any and all exposures that were made BEFORE the hand was declared "dead". While I do realize the wording was changed from went "dead" to was declared "dead", that is not the part of the statement that I am referring to. I find this statement to be a contradiction to a statement that was added to the 2020 edition of Mah Jongg Made Easy. Under the heading SPECIAL RULES FOR THE USE OF JOKES on page 24, item 21 it says: No JOKES exposed prior to a Concealed hand being declared "dead" are redeemable, since they were part of an incorrect exposure. While I realize that the back of the card offers limited space for detailed statements, I find these two statements to be very confusing. I do plan to send a letter to the NMJL and ask for clarification on this. What are your thoughts?
Thank you Susan

Hi, Susan. The only "inconsistency" (if any) is due to the fact that the back of the card doesn't say that when a player goes dead, the erroneous exposure(s) must be returned to the sloping front of the rack.
Also, the item you quoted from MJME refers only to hands marked C on the card. Once it is realized by all that the hand is a Concealed hand, all the exposures from that hand must be returned to the sloping front.
If one has those rules in mind while reading the back of the card, there is no inconsistency.
But perhaps I should make a change to FAQ 19 - I'm a bit distracted these days, I'll have to reread and recheck when I have time.
Stay safe. Don't touch your face. Don't panic! And
may the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper
Author of "The Red Dragon&The West Wind," the definitive book on Mah-Jongg East & West.
Author of the
Sloper On Mah-Jongg column and
the Mah-Jongg FAQs -- donations appreciated.
March 30, 2020
Los Angeles, California, USA

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